Morning Bits

By
Jennifer Rubin

Delusional. Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer is running for president. "While Roemer is a native son of a state that witnessed a miracle last year -- the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl -- he faces very long odds. A former Democratic member of Congress who switched to the GOP in 1991, midway through his single term as governor, Roemer has been largely absent from politics since consecutive failed gubernatorial runs. In Louisiana circles, he is a onetime political wunderkind who is remembered more for what he might have been than what he accomplished."

Disappointing, to say the very least. "Why the wait? That's the question ACTA president Anne Neal is asking Harvard about restoring ROTC to campus. As she points out, providing official recognition to ROTC - as opposed to establishing a new unit on campus - is an action that the university can and should undertake immediately. Harvard president Drew Faust's response is disappointing. While she confirmed that the university is in discussion with the military, she noted that those discussions were focused on 'the gay and lesbian issue' and that the transgender issue still has to be sorted through."

Disinterest on the left in figuring out the motive on this one? "A gunman shouting 'Allah Akbar' opened fire on a bus carrying U.S. airmen in Frankfurt, Germany, killing two and wounding two others before his gun jammed and he was subdued, officials said. ... He fired nine times, killing two and critically wounding two others before the gun jammed and he was subdued by other passengers. While being wrestled into submission, the suspect shouted either 'Jihad Jihad' or 'Allah Akbar,' sources said."

Declining interest in running for president? Looks that way. "Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels says he'll stay focused on getting his Statehouse agenda passed, even if the legislative session drags on so long that it precludes him for running for president."

Distressing to see such lack of initiative on Libya. Elliott Abrams writes: "Sending [Gaddafi's opposition] not only humanitarian materials -- which is already being done, but should be increased -- but also arms seems logical. . . . If even that is too much for the United States government to stomach, could we at least press the Saudis (who have long hated Qaddafi) or Egyptians or other Arabs to supply the anti-Qaddafi forces? . . . Given the reports today of how resistant the Pentagon is to direct intervention, including a no-fly zone, perhaps the supply of arms would gather some support at DOD as a better alternative. The American position cannot, in any event, be strong rhetorical support for the opposition combined with absolute inaction. Our words must have meaning and must be the precursor to action."

Depraved, if true. "Hollywood film mogul Steven Spielberg has bought the rights to the story of the WikiLeaks saga, the Guardian reported Wednesday. The Guardian was one of the five original media outlets used by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to publicize the tranche of thousands of classified US documents relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and diplomatic cables."
Distasteful speech is protected by the First Amendment."The First Amendment protects a fringe religious group that protested the funeral of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The court, in an 8-to-1 vote, ruled that the soldier's father could not sue Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., for celebrating his son's death with a funeral picket that included signs saying 'Thank God for Dead Soldiers' and 'God Hates You,' along with more vulgar messages."
Disingenuous to claim they are "pro-Israel," isn't it? " The detractors of J Street, the 'pro-Israel, pro-peace' lobbying organization, like to portray the organization's leader, Jeremy Ben-Ami, as so far to the left of mainstream American Jewish opinion as to be out of bounds. If they think Ben-Ami is too much of a lefty on Israel, just wait till they meet J Street's rank and file." Read about the whole unseemly scene. Or not -- life is short.

Once again, the fruits of the socialist neocons coming back to bite us.

The gunman was a Kosovo Muslim. Thanks to the neocon liberals holding hands with Mr. liberal Bill Clinton, these liberal chickens in wolves' clothing convinced Clinton to get invloved in a civil war we had no business being a part of. Even Sean Hannity was smart enough to come out against this action.

But no, the neocons dragged us into another venture, drained billions from us in good old socialist fashion, and now two innocent Americans get to enjoy the fruits of liberal policies.

Anyone think that had we NOT intervened that this joker or whoever spawned him might have been killed by the Christians fighting the Muslims? Instead he's alive to wreak havoc.

It's a love-hate thing with neocons. They love to risk real Americans to save radicals, yet hate them when the radicals come back at the same real Americans they put at risk in the first place.

From Abrams?
" Given the reports today of how resistant the Pentagon is to direct intervention, including a no-fly zone, perhaps the supply of arms would gather some support at DOD as a better alternative."

Hey, Maybe good ol' neo/non-con Elliot Abrams can think of a way to funnel arms and money to the opposition. Oops, he screwed Reagan, a REAL conservative President, when he did that back in the 80s. Good thing he was pardoned so he can opine on foreign policy. GW Bush must be a true forgiving Christian to have let this man into his administration.

Elliot 'I haven't met a civil war I didn't want to get invloved in' Abrams.

"...What is being rejected is a political culture that has endured for the past 60 years in the Middle East: the appearance of unity around a cause (the Arab people, Islam, or Palestine) and a leader (the zaim), a state built on the secret services (the mukhabarat) and the vilification of all opponents as traitors in the pay of foreign powers (usually the United States or Israel).

The protest movement is both democratic and nationalist ..."
http://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2011/02/israel-iran-movement-arab

I heard Buddy Roemer speak today on Morning Joe. He hit all the important points no one else speaks of, busting the big banks, anti-trust law for insurance companies, big pharma control.

Unfortunately, big money now have the ability to directly take out political ads to destroy him. How can we extricate ourselves as a nation from these special interest lobbies!? Congress has sold its collective soul to big interests, spending 80% of their time campaign fund raising and schmoozing. While the middle class is vanishing before our eyes as the upper crust 1 percents sop up all the dough.

Well it is at least refreshing to hear someone (and by the way Roemer has been a congressman besides Governor and ran a successful bank) speak out against this and offers an articulate voice for the suffering middle classes.

I hope Roemer gets more than 15 minutes of fame and that he gets to debate. Sounds like he is one of the few Republicans who providing nothing but criticism for dems and the johnny one note tax cuts answer for all of mankind's suffering.

His website gives the following info:

"Learn More About Buddy
Governor Roemer served four terms in the United States Congress from 1981 – 1988 as a conservative Democrat who often broke ranks with his party to vote with President Reagan, and was Louisiana Governor from 1988-1992 as both a Democrat and Republican. During his tenure in the Governor's office, unemployment in the state dropped by approximately half, the state budget was balanced all years despite inheriting a huge deficit, teacher pay was linked to performance, education accountability standards were enacted, government unions were challenged, and sweeping campaign finance reform legislation was passed...."

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.